Money war intensifies

U.S. authorities began a worldwide crackdown Wednesday on two shadowy financial organizations, a banking group and a money-transfer network, that they say help Saudi exile Osama bin Laden finance terrorist activities.

The strikes against al-Taqwa and al-Barakaat--including the closure of eight offices in the United States, the charges against two men in Massachusetts and the freezing of millions of dollars in assets--were portrayed as a major blow to bin Laden's financing system, though officials conceded he has many other sources of money.

The White House has long described the financial world as an important front in its onslaught against terrorism, along with military, investigative and diplomatic initiatives. Those three fronts have yielded few clear victories recently, and administration officials were eager to portray the financial crackdown as an important breakthrough.

"Today we are taking another step in our fight against evil," President Bush announced at the Treasury Department. "We are shutting down two major elements of the terrorists' international financial network, both at home and abroad."

Treasury officials said Wednesday's action showed the nation's ability to go after the terrorists' banking system directly.

They also highlighted the cooperation of the United Arab Emirates, the banking center of the Arab world whose cooperation is crucial to the investigation. The UAE froze the assets of al-Barakaat headquarters in their country, officials said.

"Al-Taqwa and al-Barakaat are financiers of terror," said Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. "Feigned indifference, willful blindness and the appearance of normalcy and status in the world of business or commerce will no longer provide cover or safe harbor."

Al-Taqwa is a system of banks based in Lugano, Switzerland, that authorities said essentially acts as a financial adviser to Al Qaeda, bin Laden's terrorist organization. It also operates in Liechtenstein, Italy and the Bahamas.

Al-Barakaat is a sprawling financial web based in the UAE that operates in 40 countries. U.S. officials described it as a hawala, a shadowy money network that often operates without written documents or transaction records.

Al-Barakaat's businesses provide everything from money wiring to Internet access, often in small storefronts.

It is headed by Shaykh Ahmed Nur Jimale, described by U.S. officials as a friend and supporter of bin Laden. Officials said the company helps Al Qaeda move money around the world and also provides money from customer fees directly to bin Laden.

"The entry point for these networks may be a small storefront operation," Bush said. "But follow the network to its center, and you discover wealthy banks and sophisticated technology, all at the service of mass murderers."

In Mogadishu, Somalia, a chairman of al-Barakaat vehemently denied the White House allegations.

Al-Barakaat chief denies link

"This is all lies," Ahmed Nur Ali Jim'ale told The Associated Press. "We are people who are hard-working and have nothing to do with terrorists."

As part of Wednesday's moves, the administration froze the assets of 62 companies and individuals associated with the two networks. The U.S. has now frozen $24 million in assets since Sept. 11.

At the same time, Treasury agents raided al-Barakaat branches in Minneapolis, Boston, Seattle and Ohio, and they are investigating two more al-Barakaat offices in Virginia.

In Massachusetts, prosecutors charged two men, Liban Hussein and Mohamed Hussein, with running an "illegal money-transmitting business." They operate a branch of al-Barakaat in Dorchester, Mass., called Barakaat North America Inc., and allegedly transferred money overseas without a license.

Their business, like other al-Barakaat branches in the United States, appeared to nestle comfortably into the community. It operated on the second floor of a two-story brick building in Dorchester with little indication that, as officials claim, it was the tip of a tentacle leading back to bin Laden.

Meanwhile, several U.S. allies overseas took their own enforcement actions in what officials depictedas a sign of a new level of international cooperation. The UAE shut down al-Barakaat's headquarters there; Italian officials froze al-Taqwa's accounts in their country; and Switzerland detained and questioned a top official of al-Taqwa.

O'Neill said authorities took the action Wednesday because they finally "felt we had the information required to take strong action with real consequences."

Separate organizations

Al-Barakaat and al-Taqwa are entirely separate organizations, despite their alleged ties to bin Laden. Of the two, al-Barakaat appears the more diverse and sprawling.

Founded in 1989, it operates in 40 countries. Among its most prominent businesses is a series of money-transfer branches that cater to Somalis living in the United States who want to send money home to their families.

Al-Barakaat focused on the Somali community for several reasons, officials said. About 100,000 Somalis live in the U.S., and they send roughly $500 million home each year, creating a lucrative industry for those who handle the money for a fee. Somalia is "one of the most lawless countries on earth," according to a senior Treasury official, allowing al-Barakaat to operate there easily.

What bin Laden got

Each time someone sent money home to Somalia, al-Barakaat charged them a fee, and officials said much of that has been channeled to Al Qaeda.

Al-Barakaat also allegedly engages in other illicit activities helping bin Laden's organization. The network allegedly allows supporters of Al Qaeda to wire money to the group, provides terrorists with Internet and telephone service and even helps arrange arms shipments.

"The al-Barakaat companies are the money movers, the quartermasters of terror," O'Neill said. "They are a principal source of funding, intelligence and money transfers for bin Laden."

In the U.S., the network operated such businesses as Al-Barakaat Wiring Service in Minneapolis and Barakaat Enterprise in Dorchester. Much of its business was in Minneapolis because that city is home to the nation's largest Somali community, comprising about 50,000 people.

Al-Taqwa, meanwhile, is an offshore banking network that officials say acts virtually as an investment broker and financial adviser to Al Qaeda. It is run by Youssef Nada, who was detained and questioned by Swiss authorities Wednesday and was later released.

Other leaders of the company are Ali Ghaleb Himmat, who like Nada lives in Campione d'Italia, Switzerland; and Memet Idris Nasreddin, who was reportedly questioned recently by Egyptian authorities for suspected ties to terrorist groups.

Network supports mosque

Among its other activities, al-Taqwa is a supporter of the Islamic Cultural Institute in Milan, a mosque that the Treasury Department has called Al Qaeda's main "station house" in Europe.

The mosque and its members have been linked to several terrorist plots, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a failed scheme to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Rome.